talented players

For all the excitement surrounding Tottenham in the last three or four years, in some aspects they've really not made much progress. A go at the title in 2011/12, along with what now seems a souvenir appearance in the Champions League, is little to shout about in the long term. And when they were pipped [.

Last season, Chelsea became one of the worst teams in the history of Champions League football,
rivalled by Liverpool, to win the competition. After being outplayed in pretty much every single
game, somehow they managed to drag themselves to a penalty shoot-out in the final which they
won.

For all their success in the cup competitions, Chelsea fell some way short, finishing 6th, 25
points behind us and City.

Despite finishing fourth in the Premier League, Spurs had their return to the Champions League
taken away when fifth-place Chelsea beat Bayern Munich on penalties in the Champions League final.
You might think that this would be painful for the club and manager Harry Redknapp, but it just so
happens ol' 'Arry has decided the competition he was overjoyed to qualifying for two years ago is
no longer that big a deal.

Yet again Arsenal fans have been extremely disappointed at the end of a transfer window, and
despite buying three promising talented players the Gunners have ended up this morning with Â£10
million from their summer dealings. Arsene Wenger said yesterday that we just have to trust him and
the Board to do the right thing [.

What The Hell Is Arsene Wenger Thinking? (F#%K!!!) by AM We all know that Arsenal's manager Arsene
Wenger lauds himself for being one who loves getting very talented players when they are small and
no other huge team like Arsenal would give them a second look, and turns them into talented
footballers who prove their [.

Flip your calendar back about 365 days. Andre Villas-Boas's Chelsea were beginning to
look ready to poise a genuine threat to the two Manchester clubs for the title, lying in second
place. However, this was the highest position Villa-Boas would experience as sergeant of the
Stamford Bridge army.

NextGen Series 2012/13 Guide: The teams, the players to watch all you need to know is a post
from: Just Football

The second season of the pioneering continental European youth tournament the
NextGen Series kicks off this week. After a look at the story so far in Part I, in
Part II we present to you a guide with everything you need to know about NextGen 2012/2013
including the teams, expectations and top five players to watch:

by Joe Krishnan

After a magnificent opening season, the NextGen Series' reputation
soared to such a high level that clubs were applying to get involved, with organisers then having
to choose who to accept and reject.

NextGen Series 2012/13 Guide: The teams, the players to watch all you need to know is a post
from: Just Football

The second season of the pioneering continental European youth tournament the
NextGen Series kicks off this week. After a look at the story so far in Part I, in
Part II we present to you a guide with everything you need to know about NextGen 2012/2013
including the teams, expectations and top five players to watch:

by Joe Krishnan

After a magnificent opening season, the NextGen Series' reputation
soared to such a high level that clubs were applying to get involved, with organisers then having
to choose who to accept and reject.

After weeks of build-up, which has been overshadowed to some degree by the London 2012 Olympics,
the Premier League gets underway this weekend and it should be another enthralling season of top
flight English football.

Taking a lot of the headlines will of course be the race for the title, with Manchester City
looking to secure first position once again and their local rivals Manchester United eyeing up
revenge over the next few months.

Chelsea Have Grounds For Optimism - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Chelsea have had a summer almost as extraordinary as their amazing Champions League triumph in
May. It's been an extraordinary summer because they have spent upwards of Â£63m, revolutionised
their squad, signed two of the hottest young talents in world football yet managed to do this
completely under the radar.

Brendan Rodgers has indicated he will speak to Liverpool's forgotten stars Joe Cole and Alberto
Aquilani before deciding on their future.
Rodgers was appointed as the Reds' new manager on Friday and is already running the rule over the
talent at his disposal at Anfield.
Cole spent the season on loan at French club Lille, while Aquilani returned to his native Italy
with AC Milan.

In what is news to fans, but not necessarily to the teams and clubs active in the United States
Soccer Development Academy system, US Soccer announced today that they adding the U13/14 age group
to the competition for the 2013-14. United States National Team Coach Jurgen Klinsmann said in the
announcement;

"I am very excited to see this important next step in the process of developing young players in
this country.

Steve Kelley is a soccer friendly mainstream writer. He's at US Open Cup games. He travels to
CCL matches. He is often at regular season games. He occasionally goes to practice, has broken a
story or two and his feature on Carrasco/Morgan was well done. He can also be dramatically wrong,
as he was in his column about the Sounders needing someone to "light a fire under whiny
Sounders.

The waiting is over! I can't tell you why but i really think this could be a great hire. Porter
turned down an MLS head coaching position once before in 2009 but this time Caleb felt if was a
better fit and a much better situation. Hopefully his instincts are correct. This also explains why
Portland has gone to a 4-3-3 and has started using Darlington Nagbe differently.

Major League Soccer and the Philadelphia Union announced today that Michael Farfan was added to
the All-Star team game day roster, bringing the total number of players to 20 to face Chelsea.

All-Star team head coach Ben Olsen selected Farfan, along with San Jose left back Justin Morrow
- added as a replacement for New York Red Bulls defender Heath Pearce, to extend the squad's roster
to 20 players.

West Ham have stepped up their interest in Liverpool striker Andy Carroll by making a Â£15m-plus
bid that would break the Hammer's transfer record.

The offer would see England forward Carroll initially move on loan for a season with a
commitment to buy the England striker next summer, which is not something that I see Liverpool
going for as they have already dismissed a similar offer from Newcastle.

West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce is looking to strengthen his recently promoted side by
reportedly pursuing former Real Madrid veteran Jose Maria Guti.

Guti, 35, was released by Turkish outfit Besiktas at the end of last season and if a deal is
agreed in the coming days, the player will be able to join the Hammers' pre-season in Austria as a
free agent.

The New York Red Bulls announced on Thursday that Tim Cahill is now a member of the club. "I am
very happy to start a new chapter of my career with the New York Red Bulls," Cahill said in a press
statement. "As we have seen over the past few years, MLS has developed into a very competitive
league with many talented players.

Japan has the highest proportion of elderly citizens of any country in the world. The irony is when
the Samurai Blue takes to the pitch against Australia tonight, it's the Socceroos who'll attract
all the attention for their age.
The Australian team which drew 0-0 in its opening fourth round World Cup qualifier against Oman had
a combined average age of almost 32.

The New England Revolution will be facing a team that is eerily similar to them when they play
Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night. Both teams have veteran goalkeepers, capable defenses, and
a variety of players that handle the scoring burden.

Daniel Agger skippered Denmark to an unexpected victory in their Group B opener against one of the
tournament's favourites Netherlands on Saturday night.
The Dutch side boasted an attacking line-up that featured some of the most talented players in
European football, like Arsenal's Robin van Persie, Inter Milan's Wesley Sneijder and Bayern
Munich's Arjen Robben.

Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas has revealed that his national team's unmatched confidence on and
off the pitch was not nearly as strong before Euro 2008.

Along with England, the Spaniards were considered to be an under-achieving football nation and
despite a plethora of talented players in their squad, Fabregas admits that Spain's players
doubting their credentials heading into that tournament four years ago.

Euro 2012: The experts predict... (aka come back and laugh at us all in 3 weeks) Part I is a
post from: Just Football

Jonathan F (@JustFootball)

Winner: Germany Youth, experience, more youth, team cohesion, an impeccable
record in qualifying (10 games, 10 wins), tournament know-how and players of the sheer
frighteningly precocious ability of Mario GÃ¶tze and Marco Reus hovering around the fringes of the
team.

The Rest

We'll be facing a lineup of talented players in the US Open Cup final, known as much by the
roles they're committed to as by their names. Let's take a closer look at those roles and how they
influence the game.

Good morning Dynamo fans!...ok, it's the afternoon, I apologize, it's been a busy Monday. On
this edition of Monday Morning Centre Back I want to talk about defense, but not in the way you
might think.

As of this moment, the Dynamo have the following defenders on the roster: Bobby Boswell, Geoff
Cameron, Andre Hainault, Jermaine Taylor, Corey Ashe, Warren Creavalle, Oscar Recio and Kofi
Sarkodie.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - To call Marco Pappa an enigmatic player at times might be an
understatement.

The Chicago Fire midfielder joined the Fire on a loan during the 2008 season, which was later
extended into a permanent move. At times, he's been one of the league's most talented players. At
other times though, he's been criticized for not putting forth a complete effort.

It's almost a quarter of a century since the Republic of Ireland made their debut in
international tournament football, when a first round exit in the European Championships was
ameliorated somewhat by the pleasure of beating England in the group stages. Since then Ireland
have reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup finals twice, but 1988 has proved to be the
country's sole appearance in the finals of the European Championships until this time around.